The American Literary Translators Association has given out translation prizes for nineteen years now, and for the past three, there have been separate awards in poetry and prose. Unlike most translation awards, these involve a round in which the translated books are read against the originals by an ALTA member specializing in the language in question, so they’re guaranteed to be fidèles as well as belles. The winners of these $2500 awards are announced each year at the annual conference (please come!) each October, and in the months leading up to the announcement, we get longlists and shortlists to tide us over. And this year’s longlists have just been announced. Behold the lists (in alphabetical order by title) & congratulations to all the translators singled out for recognition!
Poetry:
A Map of Signs and Scents
by Amjad Nasser
translated from the Arabic by Fady Joudah and Khaled Mattawa
(Northwest University Press)
Absolute Solitude
by Dulce Maria Loynaz
translated from the Spanish by James O’Connor
(Archipelago Books)
And We Were All Alive
by Olvido García Valdés
translated from the Spanish by Catherine Hammond
(Cardboard House Press)
Berlin · Hamlet
by Szilárd Borbély
translated from the Hungarian by Ottilie Mulzet
(New York Review of Books)
Canto General
by Pablo Neruda
translated from the Spanish by Mariela Giffor
(Tupelo Press)
Not Written Words
by Xi Xi
translated from the Chinese by Jennifer Feeley
(New Mexico State University Press)
Returnings
by Rafael Alberti
translated from the Spanish by Carolyn Tipton
(White Pine Press)
tasks
by Víctor Rodríguez Núñez
translated from the Spanish by Katherine Hedeen
(co•im•press)
The End of the Dark Era
by Tseveendorjin Oidov
translated from the Mongolian by Simon Wickhamsmith
(Phoneme Media)
The Hunchbacks’ Bus
by Nora Iuga
translated from the Hungarian by Adam Sorkin and Diane Manole
(Bitter Oleander Press)
The World as Presence
by Marcelo Morales
translated from the Spanish by Kristin Dykstra
(University of Alabama Press)
Valdivia
by Galo Ghigliotto
translated from the Spanish by Daniel Borzutsky
(co•im•press)
Prose
Chronicle of the Murdered House
by Lucio Cardoso
translated from the Brazilian Portuguese by Margaret Jull Costa and Robin Patterson
(Open Letter Books)
France, Story of a Childhood
by Zahia Rahmani
translated from the French by Laura Vergnaud
(Yale University Press)
I am Behind You
by John Ajvide Lindqvist
translated from the Swedish by Marlaine Delargy
(Text Publishing)
Kafka, the Early Years
by Reiner Stach
translated from the German by Shelley Frisch
(Princeton University Press)
No Knives in the Kitchens of This City
by Khaled Khalifa
translated from the Arabic by Leri Price
(American University of Cairo Press)
The Book of the Dead
by Orikuchi Shinobu
translated from the Japanese by Jeffrey Angles
(University of New Mexico Press)
The Explosion Chronicles
by Yan Lianke
translated from the Chinese by Carlos Rojas
(Grove Atlantic)
The Last Wolf & Herman
by László Krasznahorkai
translated from the Hungarian by George Szirtes and John Batki
(New Directions)
The Party Wall
by Catherine Leroux
translated from the French by Lazer Lederhendler
(Biblioasis)
A Whole Life
by Robert Seethaler
translated from the German by Charlotte Collins
(Pan Macmillan)
Wicked Weeds: A Zombie Novel
by Pedro Cabiya
translated from the Spanish by Jessica Powell
(Mandel Vilar Press)
Zama
by Antonio de Benedetto
translated from the Spanish by Esther Allen
(New York Review of Books)
Look for shortlists in August, and an announcement of the winning translators and books at the conference in October!